County: Kildare Site name: GREENHILLS
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: V.J. Keeley, c/o Kildare Co. Council.
Site type: Burial
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 683542m, N 719029m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.215109, -6.749163
One of six sites selected for investigation along the proposed route of the Kilcullen Link Motorway.
During agricultural work in 1958 a human skeleton was uncovered on a gravel ridge in Greenhills townland. It was therefore considered necessary to investigate the area fully in order to ascertain whether any other archaeological material was present.
During this initial investigation, seven skeletons were discovered on the site. Five of these have been fully examined. They were all extended inhumations in shallow graves and they were found some 0.3m below the surface, with one exception, which was uncovered at a depth of 0.6m. Orientation of the burials adhered to an almost exact east-west line, with the head to the west. At certain examples, settings of stones in various stages of preservation were observed outlining the burials. This feature was well preserved in the case of the deeper deposit. The stones were arranged along the sides of the burial and at the head, though no traces remained at the feet, so it is thought that a certain amount of disturbance took place in this area. A lining of charcoal was observed between the stones and the skeleton, perhaps indicating a specific burial mode.
Horse teeth deposited with two of the burials were the only evidence of grave goods discovered. From the evidence so far recovered a prehistoric date is suggested for the site. A full scale investigation of the site is scheduled for 1989.
